Contracture
by laureleaf
Summary: Contracture: a type of scar that forms after a severe burn that limits movement. A compare-contrast of how Dean and Sam cope after their experiences in Hell.
1. Cold Coffee

Dean's Hell burned hot.

He'd never said as much, of course. Dean didn't talk about Hell. Period, end of story, nothing to see here; move along. But Sam knew by the little things.

Sam always had plenty of hot water in the shower now, because Dean showered _cold_. When his brother came out of the bathroom, Sam could usually see his goosebumps from across the room. He knew better than to mention that though, so he tried to be grateful for the hot water instead of guilty (and failed spectacularly).

Dean no longer dove into his coffee with abandon. Before, he wouldn't touch the stuff if it was anything less than practically boiling. Now, he'd wait till the steam had long cleared before even taking a tentative sip. Often it had congealed into room-temperature sludge by the time Dean was happy with it. Sam had even caught him visibly enjoying an iced coffee, despite his brother's insistence that it was a 'girly drink'. There was always a full pack of water bottles and a cooler full of ice under the back seat now. Dean would be slurping on a chilled drink more often than not, even though it meant more 'annoying' bathroom breaks.

Dean abhorred anything non-original anywhere near his Baby, but within a month of his return he'd totally replaced the ancient air conditioner in the Impala with a brand-new-top-of-the-line model. You couldn't really see it from the interior, of course, but Sam had been shocked when the clanky old rumble of a tired fan was replaced with the smooth hiss of cool air. There was suddenly a heat shield in the window too, so the Impala didn't feel like an oven after sitting in the sun all day. Dean just turned AC/DC on _loud_ when Sam tried to bring it up in conversation, so he let it go.

Dean let Sam light the Salt-n-Burns now. Even then, his haunted eyes would linger on the flames just a little too long, and he'd be too quiet in the car afterwards. Candles for rituals were now Sam's arena, as well as campout cooking. If a monster required burning, Sam handled the flame thrower and Dean stayed as far away as he could from it and still do his job. Dean didn't take any hunts, no matter how interesting, south of the 37 latitude line. Other hunters could take care of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and North and South Carolina. Dean didn't even like Kentucky. If it was warm enough to sweat in jeans and a flannel, Dean would turn the Impala north at the first opportunity.

When Dean was inevitably burned on the job, it hit him harder than it should have. After Sam ganked the monster, he'd found Dean curled around his scorched arm, breathing like a winded bull and trying not to show how spooked he really was. Once they were back at the hotel, it was all he could do to keep Dean from burying himself entirely in the ice machine. As it was, his brother cuddled up to the ice pack like it was a teddy bear.

Fevers were the worst. They stripped Dean of his natural defences and left him trapped in the Hell of his memories. Sam learned all about the fires and the brands Dean had endured through half-muttered pleas and whimpers. If Dean hadn't had a death grip on his arm, Sam would have rushed out of the hotel to gank every single one of those sons of bitches right then and there. Sam didn't mention any of it once Dean had recovered, but from the look in his eyes Dean knew he knew, and was ashamed. There wasn't a damn thing Sam could say that would make it better, so he bought Dean an extra-large tub of triple-chocolate ice cream and made sure he found a case in snowy Montana for their next hunt.

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A/N:

It's hard to understate how much I adore _Supernatural_. I plowed through the first 11 seasons of this addictive show in less than four months, just in time to catch the start of season 12 as it was airing. The characters are so compelling and relatable and all of the actors are beyond talented. I love the fantastic community that the cast and fandom have built. Hopefully the angels won't mind me playing in their sandbox/gateway to Heaven :P

I realize that most of these behaviors have never been seen on the show. I would argue that just because we don't see all the nerdy things Sam does doesn't mean he doesn't do nerdy things and therefore just because we don't see all of the boys' idiosyncrasies doesn't mean they don't exist.

Fun Fact: If you look at a map of all of their cases, they haven't really gone below the 37 latitude line since the earliest seasons. I realize it's probably because it's hard to fake Mississippi in Vancouver, but I wanted an in-world explanation. Hence this fic.

~Always Keep Fighting : You Are Not Alone~


	2. Iceless Iced Tea

Sam's Hell burned cold.

He'd never said as much, of course. Sam didn't talk about the Cage he'd been trapped in, and only rarely about the Hell he was hallucinating now. But Dean knew by the little things.

Sam ordered his drinks "no ice please" instead of "extra ice thanks". When absent-minded waitresses forgot, he'd let it sit on the counter or in the cup holder until the ice was totally melted and the glass stopped sweating cool condensation. He drank his beers room-temperature from the pack, not chrisp from the cooler. Ice cream was a no-go. Same with icees. Soups, once barely tolerated, were now his favorite food. Sam wanted his coffee _hot_ , and often scalded his tongue.

Three layers of clothing was the minimum now. If it was hot enough for Dean to strip to his undershirt, Sam would take off his jacket. Maybe. High quality heat-trapping underlayers joined the blood-soaked and claw-torn flannel shirts in the laundry. Sam's socks went from threadbare Walmart specials to the ultra-thick-40-degree-below-proof-professional-hiking variety. There were handwarmers in all of his jacket pockets now, and they were used almost constantly. Dean suspected he would have used boot warmers too if he could have fit them in around those thick socks. And don't even get Dean started about Sam's ever-growing hair. They invented scarves for a reason, dude.

When they settled down for the night, Sam buried himself under all of the available blankets, and often asked the front desk for more. When he had nightmares, he shivered so hard his teeth rattled. After a few nights of that, 'Alan Parson' splurged on Dean's behalf and got the nicest heated blanket Amazon offered. The look on Sammy's face when he opened it was worth every penny, and the first nightmare-free week was priceless. The fact that Dean had ordered a bright pink cover for it didn't seem to phase Sam in the least.

Snow hunts were out of the question, since Sam looked queasy at the mere mention of a yeti or a snowalker. He never complained about the chill in the fall air during a salt-n-burn, but Dean saw how he quickly shoveled himself into a sweat and huddled extra close to the flames afterwards.

Steam always rolled out of the shower in waves after Sam was done with it, his skin flushed and red with the heat. The one time things got out of hand, Dean didn't mention anything but a funny story about a memorably curvaceous waitress in Milwaukee as he spread aloe on his brother's self-scalded back. Ice packs weren't an option. The last time Dean had tried to ice Sam's concussion, he'd almost gotten punched for his troubles. The only way his brother would tolerate ice packs was if they were wrapped in so many towels as to make the exercise pointless. They finally managed to compromise on cold washcloths, but even those caused Sam to tense up in ways that didn't help his bruises one bit.

Morgues were problematic now, since they were typically air conditioned to the point of refrigeration. Sam winced every time a wave of cool air hit him as they opened the door. While geek-boy usually lingered in his own personal anatomy lab, he now fled as soon as they got the pertinent facts. He often went out of his way to hack the files so they wouldn't have to go in at all. Dean made a point of rolling down the windows instead of using the air conditioner in the Impala when it got hot. It wasn't great for the gas mileage, but then again, his Baby never had the best mileage anyway.

Few things scared Dean, but finding his brother after a day of frantic searching huddled in the corner of a meat freezer quietly muttering to himself was one of them. Sam had been delirious and frostbitten and utterly convinced he was still in the Cage. The shredded state of his palm made it clear that he had fought long and hard against the Hellucinations before finally giving in. Talking to his shivering brother had just made things worse: Sam thought Dean was in the Cage with him. Dean had eventually just hefted all six-foot-four of his hyperventilating brother over his shoulder and into the midwest July heat. Not exactly proper first aid, but it was better than staying in the freezer, and it made Sam calm down a bit, which was the real goal. Due to Sam's multiple layers, the frostbite wasn't as bad as Dean had initially feared, but it was still enough to _hurt_. Dean wished he could gank that sonofabitch sprite again for every tear on Sammy's face as the sensation came back to his fingers and toes one sharp pinprick at a time. It was a few days before Sammy crawled out of his cocoon of every article of warm clothing and blanket Dean could find, but even then he was practically curled in half from shame. Dean well understood the feeling. He couldn't do a damn thing about it though, so instead he made sure Sam had all the _hot_ coffee he could stand and pointed his Baby towards sweltering New Orleans as soon as his brother was good to travel. The humid heat triggered some rather nasty nightmares about his own Hell, but the subtle relaxation in Sam's shoulders and three-day lack of Hellucinations made it worth it.

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A/N:

Lucifer explicitly stated in Chicago that he's ice cold, so it's not a stretch to say that the Cage makes the Arctic Circle look toasty (especially considering global warming).

Reviews are love!

~Always Keep Fighting : You Are Not Alone~


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